Auron
Auron is a playable character in Final Fantasy X. He is a former warrior monk of Yevon, guardian of High Summoner Braska, and is Tidus's caretaker. He is, in many ways, the mentor of the Final Fantasy X main party as party members will often come to him for advice or ask for his permission. Auron's complex and mysterious past, revealed in pieces during the game, directly ties into the stories of Braska and Tidus's father Jecht, and helps set the stage for the game's events. Info Auron wears a deep red haori with blue lining, kept closed with a thick black and blue strap with two brown belts wrapped around it. Auron tucks his left arm into the front of his haori, making it look as though his arm is in a sling. He removes his left arm from his haori when fighting, but his right arm remains in its sleeve. This aspect (along with the jug on his side) is a tradition among rōnin, and is likely meant to be an homage to this traditional figure: a rōnin is a samurai who refused to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) after his lord's death; this may be a reference to Braska's death. Auron wears a brown shoulder pad on his left shoulder intricately decorated with tan, green and blue patterns with a beaded ornament dangling from it. He wears black pants and shoes that have brown straps and triangular metal plating. Auron wears a black shirt with a gray collar with intersecting brown straps high enough to cover his mouth. His long hair is dark black with gray streaks and is held back by a gold ribbon, and he has some stubble on his chin. There is a large scar over the right half of Auron's face and over his eye, which is always shut as a result. His left eye is amber. On his right hip Auron carries a jug with the word "Nog" written on it (in Spiran script), a term used to describe a number of beverages, including rum. The drink is featured in two of his Overdrives: when executing Banishing Blade, Auron takes a drink and spits it on the blade, and when using Tornado, Auron hurls the jug into the cyclone to ignite it. The former is likely a homage to Japanese samurai who would spit sake on their swords to "feed the spirit of the blade". Auron is the strong silent type. He speaks only if necessary, but when he does he often says something important. He is a strict, no-nonsense warrior with a dry wit. As a guardian Auron devotes his life to protecting those in need, putting the matters of others before his own. Auron is idolized across Spira by aspiring guardians. Beneath the silence Auron is outraged and disgusted over the events of ten years ago during his pilgrimage with Braska, and still mourns the loss of his friends. Auron regards himself as a failure for letting the cycle continue. Auron has little to no respect for Yevon likely due to his knowledge of their inner workings and corruption. Kazushige Nojima has compared Auron to Vincent Valentine of Final Fantasy VII, stating that though the two are meant to be silent characters they tend to speak often and have something important to say. In Final Fantasy "This... is your world now." —Auron's last words As a young man of twenty-five years, Auron was a devoted warrior monk of Bevelle, well-regarded by Yevon's upper echelons, and being groomed for a high-ranking position within the clergy. His personal convictions put a stop to any career ambitions he might have had when he refused to marry the daughter of a high-ranking priest. Auron fell out of favor with the Yevon elite, and the promotion went to his friend Wen Kinoc who would eventually become a Maester of Yevon. Auron was enlisted by Braska to serve as a guardian on Braska's upcoming pilgrimage to fight Sin. Auron was drawn to Braska due to his noble character and honest intentions to vanquish Sin for the sake of Spira's people, developing a fierce devotion to Braska and his cause, consistently addressing him with honor, and defending him to detractors. Prior to departing for the pilgrimage Auron and Braska paid a visit to a holding cell in Bevelle, where Jecht was being kept, having heard the man claimed hail from Zanarkand. The other monks dismissed Jecht's proclamations as the ramblings of a drunkard, but Braska took him seriously, telling Jecht that if he joined the pilgrimage he should find his way home. Though Auron protested and thought Jecht would make an unfit guardian, Braska thought it "delightful irony": a disgraced monk, a summoner with a "heathen" Al Bhed wife and "half-breed" daughter, and a drunk from Zanarkand, saving Spira together. Auron relented, and the three outcasts began their pilgrimage. Contrasting with the patient Braska and the laid-back Jecht, Auron was focused solely on the pilgrimage, insisting the trip "is no pleasure cruise" when Jecht attempted to record a travelogue to one day show to his family, and he constantly reprimanded Jecht for his reckless behavior. Over the course of the pilgrimage Auron grew to trust Jecht in spite of his flaws, and the three became close friends. After arriving at the ruins of Zanarkand, the three men were debriefed by Lady Yunalesca, who could bestow upon them the Final Aeon to defeat Sin. As with all previous summoners and previously unknown to the three, one of Braska's guardians had to volunteer to become the fayth for the Final Aeon. Auron protested, claiming Sin will return and their sacrifices would be in vain, but Braska held onto the hope this time Sin would be gone for good. Jecht volunteered to become the aeon as he had accepted he would never go home, but asked Auron to find a way to his Zanarkand and look after his son Tidus in his stead. Jecht and Braska lost their lives fighting Sin, and as Auron thought, Sin was revived and the cycle continued with Jecht, as the Final Aeon, becoming the new Sin. Auron returned to Yunalesca, outraged at the vain sacrifices Braska and Jecht made, and attacked her. Yunalesca struck him down scarring Auron on the face and blinding him in one eye. Heavily wounded, Auron crawled down Mt. Gagazet to the Calm Lands, resting in a travel agency owned by Rin, then continuing on to Bevelle. Auron fell down Mt. Gagazet from a great height and landed outside the outskirts of the city, and was found by the recently-disgraced Kimahri Ronso. Dying, Auron asked Kimahri to protect Braska's daughter Yuna and take her to Besaid. Auron died, but because he couldn't keep his promises to his friends yet, such as guarding Yuna or taking care of Tidus at Dream Zanarkand, he remained as an unsent so he could complete these tasks. Now composed of pyreflies, Auron rode Sin out to sea where he found the Dream Zanarkand Jecht hailed from. Ten years later, Jecht, in the form of Sin, returns to Dream Zanarkand, speaking to Auron and telling him to bring Tidus to Spira. Auron helps Tidus fight off Sinspawn as Sin destroys the Dream Zanarkand and the two are drawn into the beast. Tidus surfaces in the ruins of Baaj, but Auron is nowhere to be found. Auron reunites with Tidus in Luca during a fiend attack that was secretly arranged by Seymour Guado, joining Yuna on her pilgrimage. At this time, Tidus, who has become one of Yuna's companions, blames Auron for all that has happened and demands answers. Auron tells Tidus Sin is Jecht, but Tidus does not believe him. Auron keeps the truth of Yevon and the pilgrimage from the group as they travel, and while Tidus comes to accept Jecht's fate, Auron explicitly instructs him not to tell the others, especially not Yuna. No one suspects Auron is an unsent, though hints exist - when Yuna performs the sending for Jyscal Guado in Guadosalam Auron doubles over in pain, and shortly before, Seymour remarks he smells of the Farplane. Auron provides the other party members with advice and encouragement in a calm, focused manner. Along the way through the Thunder Plains the party regroups in a traveling agency. Rin, who treated Auron ten years ago, had doubts someone could walk with such a large wound the next day. When the party reaches Zanarkand the pyreflies in the air replay moments of Braska's journey through the ruined city. During a particularly painful memory Auron attacks the specter of his past self speaking to Braska. Confronting Yunalesca, now much more informed on the true nature of Sin and Yevon, Yuna refuses to use the Final Aeon, not accepting false hope for Spira. Yunalesca prepares to engage the party as Auron spurs them on. With Yunalesca dead, Auron tells Tidus he is an unsent, and how he was killed by Yunalesca and arrived in Tidus's Dream Zanarkand. During the final battle Auron and Tidus meet Jecht one final time before he transforms into Braska's Final Aeon. After Yu Yevon is defeated, Yuna performs the sending for the fayth. Auron tells her to continue, now able to rest peacefully with Braska and Jecht avenged and the cycle of Sin's rebirth broken. Auron dissolves into pyreflies and is sent to the Farplane. As Tidus fades from existence with the fayth no longer dreaming him, he leaps off the deck of the airship and is met by the spirits of Jecht, Braska and Auron in the Farplane. Final Fantasy X-2 Auron makes a minor appearance in the final part of Final Fantasy X-2, together with Braska and Jecht, as voices giving Yuna encouraging words of advice in the final battle against Shuyin and Vegnagun. The only visual appearances Auron makes are during a brief flashback in Chapter 5 when Maechen's memories flare outside Zanarkand, and a short scene with Gippal in the key item "Gippal's Sphere" set during the events of Final Fantasy X when the party is separated in the Bikanel Desert. Auron is also viewable in Shinra's Dossiers. In Kingdom Hearts Auron's role is quite similar to that of Cloud's in Kingdom Hearts, in the sense that Hades sends them both to kill Hercules. Hades becomes increasingly frustrated in his attempts to defeat Hercules, since the hero kills every opponent the Lord of the Dead throws at him. At Pete's suggestion that he "send somebody already dead and save him the trouble", Hades decides to bring out the "mother of all bad guys". He goes to the deepest dungeon in the Underworld and summons Auron, offering to let him out if he kills Hercules. Auron declines and insults him, derisively telling him that "This is my story, and you're not part of it". Hades, in a rage, attacks him just as Sora comes in, and the group escapes, battling legions of Heartless and Cerberus along the way. On the way, Sora complements Auron's fighting skills and asks if he is a hero, though Auron denies being a hero. He asks Sora if he needs a guardian, but Sora politely declines. Soon after escaping Cerberus, Auron disappears. Auron is revealed to be the final contestant in the Hades Cup by Hercules. When Sora attempted to talk to him Auron says that he must defeat them and atone for his crimes, this confuses the group enough to follow him. Sora and Donald then witness a conversation between Hades and Auron in which Hades asks his crime. In response Auron says it was because he existed. When Hades told Auron to not only defeat Hercules, but also get rid of "three meddling friends" (Sora, Donald, and Goofy), Auron refuses making Hades seal what remained of Auron's free will into a doll and forces him to fight Hercules in the Underworld Coliseum. Sora enters the Underworld in search for the doll. Meanwhile, Auron came close to defeating Hercules, pinning him under Battlefields of War. However, moments after, Sora brings back the doll, restoring his free will. Auron then joined Sora and the party to help defeat Hades. Subsequently, he decided to travel the Underworld to write his own story, granting Sora the Guardian Soul Keyblade before leaving. Auron is seen during the credits fading back into pyreflies (the essence of a person's soul in Final Fantasy X) after witnessing the restoration of the Olympus Coliseum. On Sora's Team When Leon and his friends joined Sora on his journey, Auron volunteered himself as a summon for whenever the team needs him on a mission. 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